Building more wind is key to deliver the EU Clean Industrial Deal

By Reve

Europe built 16.4 GW of wind energy, 13 GW in the EU, according to WindEurope’s 2024 Statistics out today. That’s less than half of what the EU needs to deliver on its energy security targets. Poor permitting, slow grid build-out and insufficient electrification are holding back the expansion of wind. Our latest Outlook for 2025-30, also out today, shows that the annual build-out should double by the end of this decade. If we can sustain that level, then wind can deliver the bulk of the clean electricity required to deliver on the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal.

The EU built 13 GW of new wind energy capacity in 2024. Europe built 16.4 GW. 84% of that was onshore wind. Germany installed the most new wind capacity, more than 4 GW. The UK, France, Finland, Türkiye, Spain and Sweden all built more than 1 GW.

The share of wind in Europe’s electricity consumption was 20%. In Denmark it was 56%. Eight other countries got at least a quarter of their electricity from wind – among them Germany, the UK and the Netherlands.

€32bn of investments were finalised in new wind farms that will be built in the coming years. That’s 20 GW of new capacity.

Europe awarded more new wind capacity in Government auctions than ever before. The 37 GW awarded (29 GW in the EU) are in theory good news for the future pipeline and build-out. We expect Europe to install 186 GW of new wind power between 2025-2030, 139 GW in the EU. But unless Governments deliver on accelerating permitting and expanding the grid, many of these projects will get delayed.

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